WATERTOWN – In a battle of undefeated ISL football teams, Buckingham Brown & Nichols utilized a potent offensive attack and a tough defense to grind out a 34-13 victory over Belmont Hill.

The victory avenged a 2023 loss at the hands of the defending ISL champions and head coach Mike Willey said the work the team has put forward paid off with the win.

“It’s a big win for us,” Willey said. “We worked really hard this week and in the offseason and came out on top. I was really happy for those seniors.”

The Knights came out firing when star running back Bo MacCormack burst through for a 50-yard touchdown on just the third play from scrimmage, giving the home team a quick lead. MacCormack was immense as he rushed for 321 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 35 carries.

“Our offensive line is a really great group of players,” MacCormack said. “They played like dogs, like they do, they were creating really great holes for me and coach was calling really great plays.”

After forcing a turnover on downs, the Knights set MacCormack loose on another lengthy touchdown run that gave BB&N a 14-0 lead and forced the Belmont Hill defense to focus on the Syracuse commit.

“Bo is a great player,” Willey said. “It’s no surprise, everybody in the state is trying to stop Bo first, so it opens things up.”

Belmont Hill would charge down the field and score on a five-yard run from Trey Clayton to cut the deficit to seven. This score would hold until the middle of the second quarter when the Knights added a touchdown via a passing connection between quarterback Damon Taylor and receiver Sam Kelley.

“I feel like we were gelling really well today,” Taylor said. “Our offensive line and the group of guys that we were working with today, we really put it all together. That comes from a great week of preparation and trusting your brothers right next to you.”

This held until halftime and BB&N tacked on another touchdown connection between Taylor and Kelley to make it 28-7. However, Belmont Hill was intent on coming back and quarterback Réis Little hit Luis Kuehberger with a seven-yard pass to make it 28-13.

BB&N would be forced to punt on the ensuing drive but the Knights’ defense ensured that no further damage would be done.

“The defense did a really good job of preparing,” Willey said. “They worked their tails off and executed when they needed to.”

Taylor then hit Ethan Ortega for a 50-yard deep bomb that put the Knights in the red zone.

“The safety really shaded Ethan because of who he is,” Taylor said. “Ortega is a dog, he’s one of my favorite players to throw to. We have a great connection and I threw a skinny post and he got it.”

Taylor would hit Andrew Knapp for the final score of the game.

With a victory over Belmont Hill secured, the Knights now look towards repeating the performance in future matchups.

“You have got to come out firing right away and fight the whole way,” MacCormack said. “We have been playing that way the whole year and that’s a really good win but we have to come out the same way next week.”